Accused officer testifies

Constable Andrew Pfeifer says he was “calm and professional” when he stopped Councillor Matthew Green last April. He says he noticed a well dressed man, standing in mud, hiding next to a bridge, looking back and forth and he was “checking on his well being.”

Green says he was waiting for a bus, standing across the street near the bridge at Stinson Street and Victoria Avenue to get away from the wind and that the officer questioned him for several minutes making him feel “psychologically detained.”

Pfeifer says Green was “angry, aggressive and hostile.” He’s facing a discreditable conduct charge under the police services act. Green’s lawyer has called on the hearing officer to not only find it an arbitrary stop but a case of “racial profiling.”

Police prosecutor Brian Duxbury noted that many of the details Pfiefer testified to were not in his notes. When questioned by Green’s lawyer, Pfeifer admitted to Googling Green’s name to confirm he was a Councillor and said he was worried there may be a complaint so he went back to the station to ask his supervisors for advice. He was told to make good notes.

He kept asking Pfeifer about why he thought Green may have been suffering from a mental illness. His response was there are a number of lodging homes for people with mental illness in that neighbourhood, saying when he learned Green’s name and suspected he was a city Councillor he thought “he’s ok” and left.

This disciplinary hearing has been heated with Green accusing the defence lawyer of being aggressive and him accusing Green of not answering questions. It’s being held at the Sheraton hotel because of the public interest in the case.

Thursday was the third day of this police services act hearing. It is scheduled to continue September 15.